Republicans downplay Project 2025 as Democrats see winning message

Republicans are downplaying the influence of Project 2025 as Democrats see their warnings about the Heritage Foundation-led policy agenda become one of the few messages breaking through the frenzy over President Biden’s age and abilities.

But even as they note the distinction between former President Trump’s agenda and that of Project 2025, congressional Republicans do not completely dismiss the think-tank project or the organizations behind it.

“I’m still not familiar with it. And I’m one of those people who knows a lot about what’s going on policy-wise. So if I’m not familiar with it, then that means that it’s really a nothing burger,” Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) said of Project 2025.

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), meanwhile, said that he had not gotten the opportunity to review what is in the lengthy proposal. But he added: “I certainly support the groups that are behind it and the principles that they’ve been working on.”

And in what is perhaps a sign of the effectiveness of Democratic efforts to link Project 2025 to Trump and the GOP, the former president has specifically distanced himself from it, saying he knows nothing about it and that “some of the things they’re saying are absolutely ridiculous and abysmal.”

Heritage, the leading conservative think tank, is heading up the unofficial presidential transition project that has buy-in from more than 100 other right-wing organizations. Part of the initiative involves compiling a database of conservative staffers who could fill the next Republican administration.

But it is the project’s more than 900-page Mandate for Leadership policy platform, much of which was written by former Trump administration officials and key allies, that is sparking widespread attention.

Some of that policy platform is more conservative than the positions taken by Trump and the Republican National Committee (RNC) platform. One major split is on abortion: Whereas Project 2025 calls to rescind federal approval of the abortion pill mifepristone, Trump has said he will not block access to abortion pills.

But there is also overlap. The RNC platform, for instance, calls to “CARRY OUT THE LARGEST DEPORTATION OPERATION IN AMERICAN HISTORY,” while Project 2025 says the next administration must prioritize “border security and immigration enforcement, including detention and deportation” and outlines numerous suggested reforms to do so.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) suggested that outsiders not take the platform too literally.

“You throw enough stuff against the wall, so it may stick, right?” Cassidy said. “But just because you’re throwing against the wall doesn’t mean that, oh my gosh, has now become holy scripture.”

Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is vying to become GOP leader next year, agreed.

“A lot of the think tanks are helpful, just because they take the time and have the expertise to look into these things and come up with — sometimes come up with good ideas, but sometimes they come up with some stinkers too,” Cornyn said.  “The more the merrier, as far as I’m concerned.”

But Democrats have pounced on Project 2025, using it to evoke images of a shadowy master Trump plan, and it is peppered in their public statements. 

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) opened a press conference Thursday by saying Republicans want to “jam Trump’s Project 2025 down the throats of the American people,” describing the plan as “dangerous, dastardly, and diabolical.”

The Biden campaign has particularly leaned into the Project 2025 messaging, formally launching a messaging effort to tie Republicans and Trump to the project back in March around the time of the State of the Union.

As Republicans gather in Milwaukee for their national convention next week, the Biden campaign is putting up billboards in the Milwaukee area highlighting Project 2025.

“Donald Trump and his Project 2025 allies on Capitol Hill can try to duck and dodge questions on their extreme agenda, but voters aren’t buying it — they see their plans to rip away women’s freedoms, raise their taxes by thousands of dollars, and empower Trump to rule as a ‘dictator on day one’ — and it will cost them this November,” Sarafina Chitika, a Biden campaign spokesperson, told The Hill.

Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) spokesperson Viet Shelton called Project 2025 “a perfectly gift-wrapped collection of House Republicans’ most dangerous and least popular ideas,” adding that “House Republicans’ enthusiastic embrace of Project 2025 will be the anchor the DCCC will use to sink the campaigns of the so-called moderates who exhibit nothing but blind loyalty to Trump and his extremism.”

Publicly, Republicans say they are not worried about the impact of the messaging — particularly as so much focus is directed at Biden’s own fitness and issues like the economy.

“I don’t know who they think it’s resonating with,” House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said. “I mean, families I’m talking to are concerned about the Biden agenda and how it’s hurting them.”

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), the chair of House Republicans’ campaign arm, said that he had not even heard of Project 2025 until he started seeing press about it. “Once again, the left is desperately grasping for anything to save themselves,” Hudson said.

One GOP strategist told The Hill that they had not seen Project 2025 come up as an issue in any poll, focus groups, or voter interactions, and did not expect that to change given Trump’s distancing from the effort.

Democrats, however, are relishing in Project 2025 going viral far beyond their own public statements.

Google search interest in Project 2025 skyrocketed in the last two weeks, even surpassing interest in pop superstar Taylor Swift. John Oliver’s examination of Project 2025 from a late June episode of “Last Week Tonight” has more than 7 million views on YouTube. Singer Lizzo is among the celebrities talking about Project 2025, posting a TikTok on the topic.

That virality has given way to misinformation, in some cases. Project 2025 fact-checked a graphic from actor Mark Hamill that falsely said it called to end no-fault divorce, among other claims.

A July 8-11 YouGov poll found that 59 percent of U.S. adults have heard of Project 2025, including 71 percent of Democrats, about half of independents, and 55 percent of Republicans. Among independents, 7 percent had a favorable view of it, while 38 percent had a negative opinion and 55 percent didn’t know.

A spokesperson for Project 2025 posted on the social platform X earlier this month that the coalition “does not speak for any candidate or campaign.”

“But it is ultimately up to that president, who we believe will be President Trump, to decide which recommendations to implement,” the Project 2025 spokesperson said.

When Heritage created a previous “Mandate for Leadership” policy blueprint in 2016, it later boasted that the Trump administration had adopted two-thirds of its proposals.

And this year, the project’s idea of having ready-to-go policy blueprints is welcomed by some Republicans, even if they do not necessarily endorse everything in it.

“I think it’s a good idea for Republicans to start planning for next year. And I know there’s a number of different organizations and groups that are engaged with that,” Cornyn said. “I saw that President Trump made a point of saying this does not represent his views and his plans. But I think, you know, trying to get the best brands and the best ideas, bring ‘em to the table, will help us make better decisions next year.”